The Houston Symphony Presents A TRIBUTE TO MARVIN HAMLISCH, 4/24-26

The Houston Symphony is proud to present A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch to honor the life, musical accomplishments and longstanding career of multiple award-winning composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch.

Hamlisch - best known for his major musical contributions to Hollywood and Broadway - is one of a handful of artists to receive every major performing award in the U.S.: Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Academy Awards. Hamlisch composed more than 40 motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting, for which he received a third Academy Award. On Broadway, he wrote the music for one of the longest-running shows, Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning A Chorus Line. Hamlisch also won two Golden Globe Awards in the Best Original Song category for The Way We Were and Life Is What You Make It.

On April 24-26, conductor Jack Everly will lead the orchestra in A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, bringing to life many of these memorable award-winning scores, from The Way We Were to What I Did for Love. Everly will be joined by actress-singer Marissa McGowan, known for appearing on many Broadway musicals including Hamlisch's last musical, The Nutty Professor. The program will also feature young and adult singers and dancers from Theatre Under the Stars' Humphreys Musical Theatre.

Unless otherwise noted, all concerts take place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston's Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit www.houstonsymphony.org unless otherwise noted. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.

A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch

Friday, April 24, 2015, 8:00pm

Saturday, April 25, 2015, 8:00pm

Sunday, April 26, 2015, 7:30pm

Jack Everly, conductor and piano

Marissa McGowan, vocalist

Theatre Under the Stars' Humphreys School of Musical Theater

Brittany Halen, adult performer

Katja Yenko, adult performer

Mark Stonebarger, adult performer

Stephen Hudson, adult performer

Trey Curtis, adult performer

Rozie Curtis, director

Brenda Varvoutis, musical director

Jones Hall

615 Louisiana St.

Houston, TX 77002

Tickets from $25

About Jack Everly

Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). In addition to the Houston Symphony, he has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and appears regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. This season, he will conduct more than 90 performances in more than 20 North American cities.

As music director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, Maestro Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra in these patriotic celebrations on the U.S. Capitol's West Lawn. The concerts attract hundreds of thousands, and the broadcasts, which reach millions, are some of PBS' highest rated programming.

Appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Everly served the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years as conductor and music director. On Broadway, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on shows the composer scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Broadway productions of Hello, Dolly!

An Indiana native, Everly is a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and holds an honorary doctorate of arts from Franklin College. He has been a proud resident of the Indianapolis community for more than 12 years. When he's not on the podium, you can find him at home with his family, which includes Max the wonder dog.

About Marissa McGowan

Marissa McGowan was honored to be chosen by Marvin Hamlisch to star as Stella Purdy in the world premiere of his last musicalThe Nutty Professor (directed by the legendary Jerry Lewis). In Nashville, she won the Best Leading Actress award for her performance.

McGowan has appeared on Broadway in the A Little Night Music revival alongside Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury (original cast recording), Bonnie and Clyde (original cast recording) and LES MISERABLES (revival and national tour) in which she performed both the roles of Eponine and Cosette.

Some of her favorite regional roles include Magnolia in Show Boat at the Asolo Repertory Theatre; Maria in The Sound of Musicat Casa Mañana with the Lyric Theatre; Guinevere in Camelot and Mary Jane in Big River at the Goodspeed Opera House; Bianca in Kiss Me, Kate and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at The Playhouse; and Johanna inSweeney Todd at the Geva Theatre Center.

She has appeared in TNT's Major Crimes and in many recordings and readings of new works throughout New York City. Her concert performances include Lincoln Center (A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch), Annapolis Chorale, Alpine Theatre Project, New York's Hudson Theatre, Utah Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Marissa McGowan received a BFA in musical theater from Syracuse University.

About the Houston Symphony

During the 2014-15 season, the Houston Symphony enters its second century as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. This season also marks the inaugural year for new Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada. The Houston Symphony is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas whose inaugural performance was held at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $29 million, the full-time ensemble of 87 professional musicians is the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 286 performances for 300,000 people, including 82,000 children, annually. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.

Photo Credit: Len Prince